Terms and Expressions
BAREBOAT CHARTER
Charter party where the charterer hires a ship without
crew and the charterer takes responsibility for the ship
maintenance, crewing and insurance as though the vessel
was owned by the charterer
BREAKBULK
Dry, loose cargo
BULK CARRIER
Ship designed to carry dry, loose cargoes in bulk
BUNKERS
A ships fuel
CAPESIZE BULK CARRIER
Bulk carrier between 100 000 and 180 000 dwt
CHARTER
Document evidencing a contract between shipowner
and charterer or cargo owner and the shipowner and
disponent owner
CHARTERER
The hirer of a vessel from the owner either for a period of
time or a voyage
CHARTER PARTY
Conditions under which a charterer hires a vessel
CHEMICAL TANKERS
A tanker, usually not larger than 40 000 dwt, designed to
carry numerous bulk liquid chemical products, often in
stainless steel tanks, in isolated compartments (also
termed parcels)
CONTAINERSHIP
Ship designed to carry containerised cargo
DEADWEIGHT or DWT
The greatest weight of cargo, stores and all other
consumables on the ship that a ship can carry expressed
in metric tonnes
HANDYSIZE BULK CARRIER
Bulk carrier between 10 000 and 40 000 dwt
HANDYMAX BULK CARRIER
Bulk carrier between 40 000 and 60 000 dwt
LINER SHIPPING OPERATIONS
Operators who trade ships according to a schedule
between specified ports
OFFHIRE
When a ship is temporarily out of operation in accordance
with the terms of the relevant charter party with a loss of
agreed hire as a result (downtime)
OPERATOR
An operator who trades in ships and cargo
PANAMAX BULK CARRIER
Bulk carrier with a maximum beam of 32.2 metres and of
between 60 000 and 100 000 dwt
PRODUCTS TANKER
A tanker designed to carry refined petroleum products in
bulk in multiple tanks
SHIPPING POOL/JOINT SERVICES AGREEMENT
An organised group of ship owners and/or charterers
where there is a pooling of resources for the purpose of
flexible and commercial operation of ships
TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT
Management of the marine operations maintenance,
crewing, storing and insurance of the ship
TIME CHARTER
Charter party where the charterer hires a ship which is
crewed, maintained and ready for operation for an agreed
time period
TEU (TWENTY FOOT EQUIVALENT UNIT)
The standard length of a container and the measurement
used to determine the container carrying capacity of
a ship